Sara, Book 3 (15 page)

C
HAPTER
28

S
ara’s eyes suddenly opened. It was as if something had awakened her. She lay there in the darkness, listening to see if she
could hear anything, but the house was quiet. She looked at her bedside clock and saw that it was 1:11 a.m.
It’s way too early to get up,
Sara thought, and she pulled the blankets up over her shoulders and fell back asleep.

Sara’s eyes suddenly opened. Again, it was as if something had awakened her. She looked at her clock: 2:22 a.m., the dim green
lights on her bedside clock read. “Oh, well,” she sighed, turning over and falling fast asleep again.

Sara’s eyes suddenly opened. She turned quickly to see what time it was. The clock said 3:33 a.m. Sara smiled. “3:33, this
is too weird!”

I wouldn’t say it is too weird, Sara. Not too much weird, and not too little weird—just the right amount of weird.
Sara heard Solomon’s quiet voice whispering in the darkness.

“Where are you?” Sara whispered.

Meet us at the tree house.
Sara heard Solomon’s quiet voice, again.

Sara sat up in bed. She was wide awake now, but she wasn’t sure if she had been dreaming or if she really had heard Solomon’s
voice. She looked at the clock. It still read 3:33. She jumped out of bed and pulled a sweatshirt and sweatpants right on
over her pajamas. She put on her shoes and a coat and quietly opened her bedroom window. The moonlight was very bright. And
as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she had no trouble finding her way to the tree house. “Just the right amount of weird.”
Sara laughed to herself. “I’m not sure everyone would agree with that.”

As Sara approached the tree house, she could hear voices. It was Seth’s, and Annette’s voices.
What in the world?
Sara thought.

“Seth, Annette, what are you doing here?” Sara called, as she climbed up into the tree house.

“Sara, it was the weirdest thing. I woke up at 1:11 and then at 2:22 . . .”

“And then at 3:33,” Sara finished Annette’s sentence.

“Me too,” Seth chimed in. This is really weird! And we both thought we heard Solomon’s voice telling us to meet at the tree
house.”

“This is soooooo weird!” Annette said, shivering as she spoke.

“Just the right amount of weird.” Sara laughed.

Just the perfect amount of weird,
Solomon said, as he plopped down on the platform with the three of them.

“Solomon!” they all said at once, in anticipation of what was about to happen. “Why are we all here?”

Well, we’re not quite al here. We’ll wait for Maddie. We’ve been flying together on every full moon for many years now. It was her idea to invite you all to join us.

“Maddie flies?” Sara blurted out. She could barely believe her ears. “But she’s a grown-up!”

“Who’s Maddie?” Annette and Seth said at the same time.

“Maddie, you know, Mrs. Wilsenholm. Her name is Madeline, but they used to call her Maddie when she was our age,” Sara explained.

Age has nothing to do with flying, Sara. Flying is about how light you feel. You cannot be weighted down with problems and worries and still fly. It is your pure spirit that soars, Sara.

I know it seems to you that you have all joined me here in your beautiful bodies, but your bodies are actually still soundly sleeping in your beds. Tonight I will fly with the truest part of who you are. And we will have a wonderful time together.

“You mean, we’re not really here with you?”

Oh yes, you are really here with me. But your bodies are still fast asleep in your beds.

“But Solomon, I’ve flown with you before. My body flew with you before.”

You flew with me, Sara, but your beautiful body was tucked, snug and warm, in your bed.

“But Solomon, I remember that I flew with you.”

you did fly with me, Sara. And tomorrow you’ll most likely remember tonight’s flight. When you are light, and free from worry, and in a happy place, allowing who you really are to be—you’ll remember.

“Are we really going to fly, Solomon?” Annette asked. She just couldn’t stand it anymore. “I don’t care if my body comes or
not, Sara, I just want to fly. How do we do this? Come on, let’s get going.”

“What’s that?” Seth said, pointing out across the river.

A large, white form seemed to be floating right toward them.

“It’s Mrs. Wilsenholm!” Sara shouted. “Maddie, Maddie, it’s you. You’re flying!”

“Well, I guess I am, Sara. And it’s a beautiful night for it, too. Would you like to join me?” Maddie asked, reaching out
to take Sara’s hand. And without even thinking about it, Sara stepped off of the platform and floated right over to take Mrs.
Wilsenholm’s hand. Sara reached back for Annette, and Annette reached back for Seth—and they all floated out over the river.

“Yahoo!” Seth’s voice echoed down the river.

“Can you guys believe what’s happening here?” Annette called. “Can you believe this?” She repeated. “This is unbelievable!”

Sara laughed. She remembered that feeling of amazement. Almost more than you can contain. And even now, she was feeling it
again.

“Sara, why don’t you show Seth and Annette what you remember about flying,” Mrs. Wilsenholm said.

Sara said, “Well, I don’t remember there being much to it. All you have to do is decide where you want to go, and you just,
sort of, go there. If you want to go up, look up. If you want to go down, stretch your toe downward, sort of pointing it in
the direction of where you want to go, and down you go.”

“Try it,” Mrs. Wilsenholm said, smiling.

“Up!” Seth shouted, and up he zoomed. “Up, a little more,” he said, more softly, and up, a bit more, he floated.

“I wish to go over there,” Annette said dramatically, pointing across the river—and across the river she went.

“Me, too,” Sara said, and across the river she went.

“I want to go up, now down, now up, now down!” Seth shouted, enthusiastically, and up and down and up and down and up and
down he went! He couldn’t stop laughing. “Boy, that’s a ride and a half,” he called to the girls.

“You want to fly to the school?” Annette asked.

“I do,” Seth agreed.

“Me, too,” Sara agreed.

And off they went, with Mrs. Wilsenholm following along behind.

They floated up over the football field, waiting for Mrs. Wilsenholm to catch up with them.

“Have you noticed, kids,” Mrs. Wilsenholm explained, “that whatever you decide causes an immediate response?”

“Yes, this is so great!” Annette answered.

“Did you notice that words are not required. Only a clear intent from you?”

“Yeah,” Seth answered. “It’s like, whatever we want just happens.”

“Join hands, and I’ll show you something quite interesting.”

Sara reached out and took Seth’s and Annette’s hands, and they reached out and took Mrs. Wilsenholm’s hands, forming a circle.

“Now Sara, you decide to go up, and Annette, you decide to go down, and Seth, you decide to go sideways. On three: one, two,
three!”

“Nothing happened! Why didn’t anything happen?”

“Now let go of everyone’s hands. Now, Sara, you decide to go up, and Annette, you decide to go down, and Seth, you decide
to go sideways.

“Oh!” they all exclaimed as Sara blasted up and Annette blasted down and Seth blasted sideways.

Everyone laughed. Eventually they gathered back together in their floating circle.

“You see, kids, when you’re floating singularly, and you’re clear about what you want, your own intentions are immediately
acted on, because you’re in complete agreement with you. But when we were all joined as a group and intending different things,
nothing happened.”

“Now, join hands again, and now, let’s intend to go upward.”

Seth and Sara and Annette projected that intention—and up they rose.

“Wow!” Sara said. “This is cool.”

“When we weren’t in agreement, why didn’t we just all pull in opposite directions, Maddie?” Sara asked. “I mean, why didn’t
we each get what we wanted and just tug at each other?”

“Well, that could happen. With some people it does happen that way. But you’re such good friends. I suppose your intention
to get along with each other is so strong that rather than tugging at each other, you waited instead, for a group consensus.”

“Hey, where’s Solomon?”

I’m here,
Solomon said, from the sky, high above them.
I’m enjoying your techniques. I believe you have taken flying to a place it has never been before.

Everyone laughed. “This is so much fun. I wish we could stay here forever,” Annette said.

Flying is a wonderful thing, kids. I do it all the time. But then, I am a bird now, aren’t I? And flying is a nice thing for you to do from time to time, also. But you have intended to do your soaring in different ways.
It would not be a good thing if flying distracted you from your extremely valuable human perspective. But I think it would be all right if you stayed here for a few more minutes. There’s someone else who would like to fly with you for a while.

“Someone else?” Sara was surprised. “Who else around here knows about you, Solomon?”

She’s not exactly from around here, Sara, but she does know all of us very well.

Solomon turned and gazed across the football field. A beautiful, white dim form floated toward them.

“Mom, Mom! Oh, Mom, it’s you!” Annette squealed, flying toward the approaching form.

Sara and Seth and Maddie held back, watching Annette streak across the field and into the arms of her mother.

“Oh, Mommy, Mommy, you’re here. You’re here, and you are as real as real can be.”

Annette’s mother laughed gently. “Well, I guess I am real, Annette. We all are. We are all always real. I’m so glad that you
could come here to meet me in this way.”

“Mommy, are you going to come back, like Solomon did, and live with us again?”

“Oh, sweet Annette. Now, how would we go about explaining that to the neighbors? I will never really leave you, Annette. I
am always just a thought away. And whenever you want me, I’ll be right here. In very special times, like tonight, you’ll be
able to see me, and anytime you’re happy—you’ll be able to hear me and sense me.”

Annette smiled at her mother. She didn’t know why, but somehow she understood fully everything her mother was saying to her.
It all seemed perfectly logical and comfortable.

“Mommy, what’s it like to be dead?”

“Well, Annette, I wouldn’t really know. It turns out that there is no such thing. I’m as alive as ever. More, really. And
happy, oh, Annette, I didn’t realize that such happiness could exist.”

“I’m glad, Mommy. I’m happy, too.”

“I know you are, sweet girl. I see it every day.”

“Well, kids, we’d better get a move on. We don’t want to turn into pumpkins or anything like that,” Maddie said.

“Mommy, will I see you again?”

“Of course, Annette, we’ll visit often. Have fun with your friends. And kiss everyone at home for me.”

Annette’s mother faded softly into the night sky, and Sara and Annette and Seth and Maddie floated silently over the football
field. Sara put one arm around Annette’s neck and one around Seth’s neck. Seth reached out for Maddie, and Maddie reached
out for Annette, and the four of them floated there silently over the football field.

Sara rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes. The clock said 3:34. She smiled. “Oh boy, was that weird!”

Just the right amount of weird.
She heard Solomon’s voice in her head.

C
HAPTER
29

S
ara could barely wait until school was out so she could meet with Seth and Annette and talk about the unbelievable experience
they’d had the night before. Or at least, Sara
thought
they’d all had it the night before, because the more time that passed, the more Sara began to wonder if she had, maybe, only
dreamed it.

She understood what Solomon had explained about how her body had remained sleeping in her bed, and that her consciousness
was having those magical flying experiences, but this experience had seemed to go so far beyond anything that Sara had ever
experienced. It seemed just too wonderful to be true. Would Seth and Annette remember it, as Sara remembered it?

Sara could see Annette coming toward her with a group of other kids. She was dying to drag Annette aside, right there in the
hallway, to ask her what, if anything, she experienced last night, but Sara knew she should not talk about any of this where
anyone who wouldn’t understand might hear.

Sara watched Annette’s pretty face as she got closer.
Does she remember?
Sara wondered. Annette looked right at Sara, as if she’d heard her thoughts, and smiled a beautiful, knowing smile at Sara.
Annette’s face was more beautiful than ever this morning. She looked so calm and relaxed. She looked joyous!

“I’ll see ya,” Annette called back over her shoulder, looking at Sara with a clear intensity that let Sara know, without any
doubt, that Annette would be at the tree house after school.

Sara hurried toward her classroom.
I wish we could just go to the tree house now,
Sara complained under her breath.

Seth came running up from behind Sara and slipped a small note into her hand as he rushed past her. He turned around and winked
as he hurried down the hallway. His note read:
“TREE HOUSE—TONIGHT—FOR SURE!”

He remembers.
Sara smiled to herself.

The final bell rang, and Sara went directly to the tree house. She just couldn’t wait to meet up with Seth and Annette so
they could talk about what had happened last night.

When she arrived at the tree house, Annette was already there, and before Sara could climb the ladder up into the tree house,
Seth came running into the clearing right behind her.

She giggled as she tried to climb up into the tree house faster. It felt like Seth might just climb right over the top of
her, if she didn’t hurry up and get out of the way.

The three of them sat breathless on the platform, just looking at each other.

Finally, Annette spoke first. “Did what I think happened last night really happen?”

“I think that what you think happened, happened. But I’m not exactly sure what you think happened,” Sara said, laughing between
her words.

“One thing’s for sure,” Seth said. “I don’t think we should tell anybody else what I think that you think that you think happened.”

Solomon zoomed in from across the river and plopped down on the platform beside them.
Well, hello, my fine featherless friends. Or should I say, my glorious gaggle of ghosts? What’s new? Or should I say, What’s up?

Everyone laughed.

“Solomon,” Sara said, “we’re so glad to see you. Wasn’t last night amazing?”

I don’t know that I would call it amazing,
Solomon said.
It all felt perfectly normal to me.

“Yes, but Solomon, what’s normal for you is still pretty far out for the rest of us,” Seth said.

Actually, Seth, the three of you are rediscovering what truly normal is.

“Normal?” Sara and Annette said, at the same time. “This is normal?”

Yes, kids, remembering your unlimited nature. That is normal.

Feeling joyous, as you move about with gay abandon.

Understanding that there is no death, and therefore never any separation between loved ones. That is normal.

Feeling alive and aware.

Being so full of who-you-really-are that self-adoration is always present.

Knowing well-being. That is normal.

Understanding that, no matter what, all is well.
That is normal.

The three of them sat quietly listening to Solomon’s beautiful words.

Loving your lives . . .

Feeling excited about what is before you . . .

Understanding that the joyous journey never ends . . .

Knowing that you can figure it all out as you go along . . .

Loving others who will play with you along the way . . .

Understanding that we are all different, and yet perfect as we are . . . that is normal.

Realizing that you will never, ever get it done . . .

And that you never get it wrong . . .

Feeling so full of yourselves, and so in love with-who- you-truly-are, that nothing distracts you from your joyful moments . . .

Now, THAT is normal.

But, everything else is all right, also.

The three of them laughed, again. “Oh, Solomon,” Annette began, “I love you so much. I am so happy. I am just so happy.”

You are, indeed.
Solomon smiled.

“So, Solomon, what’s next?” Sara asked excitedly, understanding that Solomon can see clearly into the near and distant future.

More,
Solomon said simply.

“More of what?” Sara asked.

More of whatever you give your attention to.

Sara laughed. “Oh, yeah. It’s always that way, isn’t it?”

It is, indeed, my friends. It always has been, and it always will be.

Solomon lifted from the platform and flew off into the horizon. The three friends sat watching Solomon until he was completely
out of view. They looked at each other, glad for their friendship.

“So,” Annette said, jumping to her feet, “Sara, are you ready to learn how to fly upside down?”

Seth grinned. He knew how much Sara had wanted to learn to do that.

Sara smiled as she looked at her friends.

“More,” she said. “I do like that.”

THE BEGINNING